How Much Does ProtonVPN Cost?

Not all VPN brands can call themselves privacy advocates like Proton can. Proton started in 2014 as ProtonMail, an email service that provides encrypted communication. It was a huge hit for journalists, activists, and whistleblowers handling sensitive information. Three years later, Proton VPN came out.

Proton VPN takes the same ethos as ProtonMail. It aims to protect the privacy of users, but instead of just emails, its cloak of privacy applies to all of your online activity. That’s how most VPNs work.

We tested Proton VPN ourselves. Our verdict is that it’s not the most beginner-friendly VPN, but when it comes to security and privacy, it’s right up there with our favorite VPN service, NordVPN. But is it practical, price-wise? That’s going to be our topic of discussion on this page. We analyzed Proton’s pricing and compared it against the features it offers to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your needs. Let’s start.

Contract costs

What Are the Subscription Plans?

ProtonVPN offers two subscription levels: Proton VPN Plus and Proton Unlimited. The easiest way to explain the two is that Proton VPN Plus offers just the VPN. Proton Unlimited, on the other hand, offers all Proton products and services, including ProtonMail, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, and Proton Pass.

As you’ll see, the price difference between the two subscriptions is minimal, so Proton Unlimited is a better bargain. That is, if you need Proton’s other products. Here’s a breakdown of their prices:

We just want to mention that Proton’s pricing has gotten a lot more streamlined than before. That’s certainly a step in the right direction. Before, Proton offered three subscription tiers for the VPN alone, with varying features and access to different numbers of servers. Now, all plans offer the same VPN features. They can all change your IP address, enhance your protection through multihop, and provide limited malware protection by blocking ads and malicious sites.

If we were to draw comparisons, we’d say that Proton is a more affordable alternative to ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN charges at least $8.32 per month for its annual plans. That’s about $2 more expensive than Proton VPN Plus. Feature-wise, though, we think they’re on par. ExpressVPN offers more servers and server locations, plus it has a VPN router called Aircove, but Proton offers more digital safety tools (like ProtonMail). You can see our ExpressVPN and Proton comparison for more information.

Is There A Free Version?

ProtonVPN’s mission of creating a freer, more equitable internet extends to its subscription plans, as well. We took the service on a full, free test ride since the company offers a risk-free, no-cost version of its VPN.

The free version of ProtonVPN doesn’t have the same upload and download speed connection as the paid-for plans nor the same bonus features. However, it’s completely free and not just for a limited time, unlike the free trial VPNs we’ve tested.

ProtonVPN Free gave us more than enough testing opportunities to give us a real feel for the service before we committed to one of its subscription plans. Even some of our favorite VPNs don’t offer a free trial. See our NordVPN subscriptions page, for example, a VPN that includes a money-back guarantee but doesn’t feature a free version.

ProtonVPN’s free version has some of the basic features we’d hope for in a VPN, but realistically, it didn’t work for us as a standalone VPN solution. We only got one VPN connection per account, which was fine for a single PC but nothing more. Plus, the server count was limited to just three counties and the speeds were less than half of the premium service.

Overall, we appreciate that a free version exists for those looking for a basic VPN, but for more serious internet usage, we’d recommend a more robust plan.

A Bit More About ProtonVPN

One of the most compelling aspects of ProtonVPN is how the company is foundationally committed to protecting civil liberties. Recent years have seen a number of more commercially focused VPNs enter the market. While these companies can offer great products, we have a hard time fully believing that our data is secure and they won’t turn over our data to advertisers or governments for the right price.

The developers of ProtonVPN first met at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. They created ProtonMail, and later ProtonVPN, as a way to provide protection for activists and journalists at a time when they felt government overreach was stifling free expression. Their mission is altruistic, and when we’re looking to protect our data, that mission provides great peace of mind.

Some of Our Favorite Features

Now that we’ve taken a broader overview of what the individual plans offer, let’s break down a few of the key features that made ProtonVPN stand out from the pack.

• Safe data governance: ProtonVPN didn’t log any of our internet usage, which helped keep our data safe. Also, because of its Swiss jurisdictional standing, governments can’t compel the company to surrender our data, which is an additional reassurance.
• High speeds: With servers capable of up to 10 Gbps upload and download speeds, ProtonVPN provides more than enough speed and bandwidth for streaming and other bandwidth-heavy activities.
• VPN protocol options: We went over this in detail in our ProtonVPN review, but ProtonVPN uses three different VPN protocols. You can choose between OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard, three different VPN protocols, each with strengths and weaknesses.
• Free version: While it is a more pared-down version of their service, the fact that ProtonVPN offers a fully free version is a great way to get a no-risk look at what the service has to offer, which could help you decide if an upgrade would be worth the price.
• Data security and split tunneling: ProtonVPN, especially its Plus plan version, impressed us with its Secure Core architecture, which helped shield our activity online. It provided the ability to split tunnel traffic, as well, which allowed us to route some traffic through our ISP and some through the VPN tunnel.
• Streaming and torrenting: The ability to access international libraries of Netflix and other streaming services is a fun feature, as is the ability to torrent files without risk of upsetting our ISP, internet service provider.

How to Sign Up With ProtonVPN

As with everything with ProtonVPN, its signup options prioritize privacy. Signing up for the free version of the service simply required entering our email address and choosing a username and password.

Payment Methods

For the paid versions, ProtonVPN offered a number of payment options based on our comfort levels with providing our personal information. There were the usual suspects like credit or debit cards as well as Paypal, but once we signed up for a free account, there were a couple of other unique options to upgrade. We paid for the VPN using Bitcoin and, more surprisingly, cash. That’s right, once we signed up for a free account, we could upgrade our service to the paid plans by sending the company cash.

While we probably wouldn’t take ProtonVPN up on the offer seeing as its service is trustworthy with personal account information, adding those untraceable payment methods was another way that ProtonVPN gave us peace of mind.

Here’s how to sign up for a subscription:

1. Go to the ProtonVPN website’s pricing page.
2. Select a plan that suits your needs.
3. Create an account, providing a username, email address, and password.
4. Select a payment method.
5. Provide your payment information.
6. Click Confirm Payment.
7. Download and install the VPN client to your devices.
8. Sign in with your account.

What If You Don’t Love the Service?

One thing we did like about ProtonVPN is that it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on its service. Between the free version and a free 30-day trial, there were a number of ways for us to ensure that the service was right for us before making a long-term commitment. Additionally, in canceling a long-term plan with the service, we could qualify for a prorated refund based on the length of the plan and how long we use the service before cancellation.

How To Cancel ProtonVPN

The process of canceling ProtonVPN subscriptions is as follows.

1. Go to ProtonVPN’s website.
2. Select Support.
3. Scroll down and click on Contact Our Support Team.
4. Fill out the support form and state your wish to cancel your subscription.
5. If you’re still within the refund period, state that you want a prorated refund as well.
6. Wait for 14 days or less for ProtonVPN to process your refund.

Summing Up ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN is towards the higher end of premium VPN services, though you can get discounts by taking on a longer contract length. With a 30-day money-back guarantee as well as a free version, however, we felt confident in the service because ProtonVPN gave us ample time with it before we needed to commit long-term.

ProtonVPN offers an impressive suite of services at impressive speeds, and the company’s commitment to privacy and data governance makes it one of the most trustworthy VPNs on the market. And the truth is, we bought into the company’s mission, from its founding through its stated goals, which makes it a service we’re happy to support, even at slightly higher prices than its competitors.